Other OU Teambuilding V3

[Fourth Inversion]

What to use

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

What it does: Rotom-W is one of the most popular pokemon in OU. Despite its low base stat total, it has an excellent typing, leaving it with only one weakness, five useful resistance, and thanks to Levitate, a Ground immunity, which negates the Ground weakness that its Electric typing has. Although Rotom-W has a limited movepool, making it predictable, the utility it gives to a team
Volt Switch is the first attack, and is the main reason why Rotom-W is so difficult to face, as it can gain momentum on predicted switches, as you can see what your opponent will switch in, and then bring in the appropriate counter. All the Rotom forms only have access to one STAB move on their secondary typing. In Rotom-W's case, this is Hydro Pump, which hits reasonable hard even off of Rotom-W's uninvested attack stat, although Rotom-W would definitely prefer to have Scald. Rotom-W has fairly poor coverage options, and Thunderbolt is not appreciably more powerful than Volt Switch, so Rotom-W is best just running the above two attacks. Will-O-Wisp is the best status move in the third slot, and even the threat of it will make physical attackers think twice before switching in. Thunder Wave is also an option, allowing Rotom-W to cripple the fast special attackers that often switch into it, however Will-O-Wisp is used on 90% of Rotom-W in the 1825 OU statistics, indicating that in practice, it's most likely to be the best choice. The 4th slot is generally used for a recovery move, with Pain Split is the best option, as thanks to Rotom-W's low base 50 HP stat, it can drain a lot of health out of the enemy, making this move very effective against walls. Rest + Chesto Berry is a one-time option for recovering HP, however after using Rest once, this effectively becomes a dead moveslot, while Pain Split has more utility throughout the match, allowing Rotom-W to repeatedly check pokemon.

This is the standard, safe EV spread for Rotom-W, and it was originally designed in early XY OU to outspeed maximum speed Jolly Azumarill by one point, so it could hit it with Volt Switch after it had set up Belly Drum. Maximising Rotom-W's low HP stat gives it the best bulk possible, with the remaining 212 EVs being invested in physical defense. Combined with a Bold nature, this gives Rotom-W considerable physical bulk. Max speed Azumarill is very rare now, with most sets preferring an Adamant nature for more power; in addition, Assault Vest has taken over Belly Drum as the most popular set, so it's also possible to just run 252 HP/252 Defense for maximum bulk.

Rotom-W's physically defensive set is its most common set in XY OU, as it Rotom-W to make the most effective use of its defensive typing. Rotom-W's is able to counter most sets of Talonflame, and check (but by no means counter) other Flying types paired with Talonflame; mainly Mega Pinsir. Rotom-W is also useful against Sand teams, as Tyranitar hates being burnt, and Rotom-W is immune to Sand Rush Excadrill's Earthquake, while 4x resisting Iron Head. Rotom-W can check common pokemon found on Rain teams, although it's not able to reliably shut down the whole playstyle by itself. Most physical attackers can't do too much damage to Rotom-W, as it can retailiate with Will-O-Wisp, then Pain Split to recover off some of the damage, making them easy for a teammate to finish off.

Good teammates: Rotom-W is very easy to include on teams, and will always pull its weight if thrown onto teams as a 6th member. Some popular partners include other users of Volt Switch or U-Turn, forming what's commonly known as a VoltTurn core, with Landorus-T, Scizor and Mega Manectric being common partners. Volt Switch is useful for giving safe switches into a wallbreaker, with Mega Medicham and Mega Heracross being great partners, as Rotom-W can also cover their Flying weakness. Despite Rotom-W's bulk, it shouldn't be expected to cover a team against every physical attacker, and so benefits from being paired with a faster pokemon such as Life Orb Latios, that Rotom-W can Volt Switch into, and who can in return outspeed and OHKO many targets with Draco Meteor or another move.
What counters it: Rotom-W is difficult to counter directly, as it can U-Turn out of unfavourable matchups. Mega Venusaur is perhaps the best counter, resisting both moves, not being entirely crippled by Will-O-Wisp, and can retailiate with a super effective Giga Drain. Other bulky Grass types such as Amoongus are also effective counters. Latios and Latias are also safe switchins, and if Rotom-W does not predict their switchin and use Volt Switch, then the opponent can freely fire off a Draco Meteor. Rotom-W counters normal Gyarados, but Mega Gyarados can hit Rotom-W with Earthquake, with its ability Mold Breaker negating Levitate. Choice Scarf Excadrill can also hit Rotom-W with a Mold Breaker Earthquake, as can Teravolt Kyurem-B with Earth Power. Keeping up Stealth Rocks can prevent Rotom-W from switching in with no consequences, and hitting it with Toxic will also wear it down quickly. After the Aegislash ban, certain physical attackers became more viable, or were able to forgot Earthquake in favour of another move. These pokemon include Mega Pinsir with Close Combat, Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham and Staraptor. Although these pokemon should not switch into Rotom-W, equally, Rotom-W will not enjoy switching into their very powerful neutral attacks.
Any additional info: When using Rotom-W, you need to predict what your opponent's next move might be, in order to avoid giving a free switchin for powerful special attackers. For example, if there's a matchup between an opposing Choice Scarfed Landorus-T and a Rotom-W, then if you can predict that Landorus-T will be unlikely to stay in to take Will-O-Wisp or Hydro Pump, and is likely to U-Turn out, allowing you to go for Volt Switch, despite Landorus-T being immune to the move, giving you the offensive momentum.

Since I've written this set up, I thought I'd also mention the Choice Scarf set in the 'What not to use' category.

What not to use

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp

What it does: Rotom-W is not a particular good user of Choice Scarf, due to its low special attack and poor coverage options. The main reason to run Choice Scarf on Rotom-W is in combination with Trick, allowing Rotom-W to utilise one support move (generally Will-O-Wisp) alongside Hydro Pump and Volt Switch. Unfortunately, Rotom-W loses out on a lot of bulk, as well as recovery from Leftovers and Pain Split. After tricking its item, Rotom-W can't reliably support the team, as it's not a particularly potent offensive threat, and without EV investment in its defenses, it's now 2HKOed by moves like Talonflame's Choice Banded Brave Bird, greatly reducing its defensive utility. This set is not terrible, as Rotom-W is one of the few OU viable pokemon with access to the combination of Trick + either Volt Switch or U-Turn, but it's worth looking at the following alternatives, as they are likely to fit your team better.

Better users of Trick: Gothitelle (gets Shadow Tag, and can still trap and threaten its targets like Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur even after tricking away Choice Scarf or Specs), Latios + Latias (both are much stronger offensively, and have excellent coverage options)

Better special Choice Scarf users: Keldeo (can revenge kill some setup sweepers at +1 speed), Heatran (considerably more powerful, and has better coverage options)

Better Choice Scarf users, or otherwise very fast pokemon with access to U-Turn or Volt Switch: Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Assault Vest or Life Orb Tornadus-T, Mega Manectric, Choice Scarf Diggersby

 

[McBeengs]

Reviving this threat in 3, 2, 1:

What to use:

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch / Crunch
- Dragon Dance

Role: Physical Sweeper

What it does: Being one of the best win conditions in OU, Mega Tyranitar was very succeeded into improve regular Tyranitar's DD Sweeper function as a whole with such an awesome attack stat and absolute colossal bulk under sand. Setting up on damn near anything, it's also VERY hard to revenge kill, even with prior damage from entry hazards and minor non effective moves in a switch. At base 71 speed, it's a bit slow, but after a single DD, it's speed becomes an very impressive +370 stat and it's attack sky-rocket to an ridiculous +700 stat. After all that, you would be incredible foolish to call Mega Tyranitar anything but a threat.

Good teammates: While Dark/Rock STAB's provides an really good neutral coverage by their own, sadly it also opens a lot of weaknesses that Tyranitar needs to rid out before attempt to sweep. In order to have an answer to any Mach Punch user in existence, Azumarill is an wonderful partner to Mega Tyranitar, putting things like Conkeldurr and Keldeo into an complete nightmare. Pokémon that can deal with Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Breloom can also be very helpful, since all of then can either wall or quickly put an dead stop to Tyranitar sweep action... With these specs, Zapdos is an good teammate to pair with, since it not only doesn't matter any of the coverage moves that all of 3 can have at the same time, like BB from Skar, Gyro Ball from Ferro and all the STABs from Breloom, but he also can put all into the line, just with Heat Wave (being Spored still sucks however). Magnezone can also do an similar job, trapping and ensuring an certain death to Ferrothorn and Skarmory, but it will fail at surviving more than one Mach Punch from Breloom, if that.

Besides support partners, Mega Tyranitar also pairs very well along wallbreakers and sand sweepers that would love have sandstorm on the field. Sand Rush Excadrill is the perfect crime parter to this job, since with an 550 speed stat under sand and equally terrifying 405 attack stat (+700 after an SD), nothing will be safe in front of it... After all that's why he got banned last gen. Landorus-I is also an really good offensive parter, softening walls like Mega Venusaur and Clefable to Tyranitar kills more easily... Talonflame and Keldeo are also good for the same reasons.

What counters it: Extremely bulky physical walls that can live an +1 SE move like Hippowdon or Ferrothorn can be a thing, but these are hardly solutions. The EdgeQuake combination is well know to have a very few number of real counters ( Chesnaught and Breloom to be exact), and adding to the fact that you can run Ice Punch as well, there's no "true" counter to Mega Tyranitar at the late game; The biggest enemy that any Mega Tyranitar can find (outside of Mach Punch users) are Scarf users, since even after an DD, very common revenge killers still outspeeds him with the help of the extra speed... To make things worse, most of these revenge killers also carries an SE move to hit you, like Garchomp for example. Other sweepers that already are on an rampage can also annoy or even kill Tyranitar, like Charizard X and Terrakion if you allows then to get too many boosts.

Any additional info: Not being able to sweep a whole team after just one DD it's an curse to most of their users, so MTTar will reach its full potential only into the late game situations, so do not be excited to use it just because you are facing an Latios or something else.

P.S.: Let's all take an minute of silence due to Enki's death.. We all love U <3

 

[Enki]

AHAHAH sorry guys I am a bit busy in this period, I'll edit the first post soon ;D

 

[Fourth Inversion]

What to use

Excadrill @ Life Orb / Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP [if using Life Orb]
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin / Swords Dance
Role: Physical Sweeper

What it does: Excadrill's high attack stat, combined with good neutral coverage and doubled speed in sand, makes it a terrifying physical sweeper. Indeed, Excadrill was found to be so overpowered under permanent weather in 5th Generation OU that it was banned to Ubers. In 6th generation, the limited duration of weather nerfed Excadrill to the point where it was balanced within the OU tier. Sand Rush Excadrill was not very common in early XY OU, but once its effectiveness was proven, it became a very popular play style, and now, is something that every team must be prepared to face.

Excadrill has a small movepool, and outside of its STABs, has few coverage options, so there's only one standard and viable set for it to use. Earthquake is its strongest STAB, and with the introduction of the Fairy type, Iron Head is now also a very useful secondary STAB, and backed by a life, it's powerful enough to have a small chance of OHKOing max physically defensive Clefable. Additionally, the 30% flinch chance can be used in do or die situations to hax your way past potential checks. Excadrill is one of the few physical attackers who lacks access to Stone Edge, but the greater accuracy of Rock Slide is a boon for Excadrill, as the move still has enough power to achieve the required OHKOes, including Thundurus (with a Life Orb boost). The 4th slot is generally used for Rapid Spin. While it seems odd to run this move on a physical sweeper, Gengar, the only common ghost type in OU can't safely spinblock (block Rapid Spin with its Ghost Typing) against Excadrill, and Excadrill's most popular teammates are often weak to Stealth Rock. Additionally, Tyranitar or Hippowdon who set up the sand for Excadrill are also commonly used to set Stealth Rocks, and so if there's a lead matchup in which both pokemon set up Stealth Rocks, Excadrill can them come in and freely Rapid Spin them away. The other viable, but significantly less common move run in the 4th slot is Swords Dance. Swords Dance sends Excadrill's attack stat through the roof, but its frailty makes it difficult to safely set up, and the shortened duration of sand means that it may be better off just attacking. Excadrill generally doesn't run a 4th attack, as X-Scissor and Shadow Claw don't provide much useful coverage on OU's common threats. The best choice for the 4th attack in the current metagame is probably Aerial Ace, to OHKO Mega Heracross, although Rapid Spin has a lot more general utility.

The most recent usage statistics show that the majority of Excadrills run 252 speed, so it's safest to match that on the EV spread. Under sand, this will make Excadrill faster than the entire OU tier, including all the viable Choice Scarf users. Adamant nature and 252 Attack allow Excadrill to hit as hard as possible. Sand Rush Excadrill can either hold a Life Orb or an Air Balloon, with the Life Orb being slightly more common, with the immediate benefit of additional power. Air Balloon gives Excadrill a once-off ground immunity, which helps in Excadrill mirror matchups, and lets Excadrill switch in on unsuspecting pokemons using a Choice item that are locked into Earthquake, such as Scarfed Landorus-T. If Excadrill is going to use Swords Dance over Rapid Spin, then an Air Balloon can provide a potential setup opportunity. Sand Rush Excadrills ocasionally run a Jolly nature to outspeed opposing Excadrills in an Excadrill mirror matchup, but the loss of power from this is undesirable.

Good teammates: Either Tyranitar or Hippowdon are mandatory, as they fuel the sandstream for Excadrill. Tyranitar is overwhelmingly the more common choice, as it has much better offensive synergy with Excadrill. Generally Focus Sash or Smooth Rock Tyranitars are used to set Stealth Rocks, and commonly run mixed sets with Fire Blast or Ice Beam as coverage moves to hit physical walls such as Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Landorus-T, Mega Scizor and Skarmory. It's possible to run Mega-Tyranitar + Excadrill, but this will leave Excadrill with fewer turns to use Sand Rush. If Excadrill is used with Hippowdon, then Excadrill can function more like a revenge killer, as Hippowdon's access to reliable recovery makes it a more durable weather setter, that is able to set up sand at multiple points in the game. However Hippowdon lacks Tyranitar's power and versatility, as Hippowdon will generally run Ground + Rock attacks, typings that are already covered by Excadrill.

Good teammates for this two pokemon sand core should be able to help remove the pokemon that wall Excadrill. Talonflame and/or Mega Pinsir can remove Fighting type pokemon with priority attacks for both Tyranitar and Excadrill. Powerful special attackers such as Mega Charizard Y, Keldeo and Greninja can hit physical walls on their weaker, special defense. Magnezone can trap Ferrothorn, Skarmory (and to an extent, Mega Scizor), and can run HP Ice on a Choice Scarf set to hit Landorus-T and Gliscor. Rotom-W and Magnezone can also use Volt Switch to help bring Excadrill in safely.

What counters it: Priority attacks are useful for revenge killing Excadrill. Excadrill is weak to Aqua Jet and Mach Punch, so Azumarill, Breloom and Conkeldurr are fairly realible checks to it. Although Talonflame cannot Flare Blitz Excadrill under sand, it can still outspeed with Brave Bird and do a little over 50% damage. Sand Rush Excadrill needs the sand up, and so one way to counter it is by threatening the sand setter, not allowing a free switch into Excadrill, or stalling out the sand turns. This is especially effective if the weather starter is not using Smooth Rock.Physically defensive Rotom-W is a fairly reliable counter to Sand Rush Excadrill. Landorus-T, phyiscally defensive Gliscor, Chesnaught and Skarmory are all fairly safe switchins. Mega Alakazam can trace Sand Rush and outspeed Excadrill, however this can only be done if Mega Alakazam has already mega evolved. Excadrill is not quite powerful enough to break through healthy pokemon with moderate bulk that are not weak to its STABs or coverage move; for example, Keldeo takes 81.4 - 95.6% from a Life Orb Earthquake. Finally, if Mega Charizard Y has already Mega Evolved, then it can set up sun, outspeed and OHKO Excadrill with Fire Blast.

Any additional info: Excadrill can viably run either Sand Rush or Mold Breaker as its abilities, although if you see Tyranitar + Excadrill, or Hippowdon + Excadrill on the same team, then you'll almost certainly be facing Sand Rush Excadrill. If Excadrill is using Mold Breaker, then 'Excadrill breaks the mold' will be displayed when it switches in.

 

[Numera]

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 212 Atk / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail / Ice Fang
- Fire Fang



Role: Physical Sweeper (cleaner) / Revenge Killer

What It Does: A great sweeper / cleaner, Mega Aero is batshit fast and this allows it to revenge kill a shit ton of the metagame, even when adamant. It is a fantastic offensive check to the likes of Keldeo, Landorus, Zard Y, Talonflame, Greninja, Mega Pinsir, Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham, Mega Gardevoir, ext. A lot of these are huge threats to offence (namely Greninja) and removing them is always handy. A lot of them are also threats to Sand Offence, a playstyle that Mega Aero fits nicely on due to the Special Defence boost it receives. It's also got pretty nice moves available to it, running things such as Aqua Tail which can be used over Ice Fang to stop Hippo from walling you, but it does allow Lando-T to avoid the OHKO. Essentially, you want Mega Aero to be revenge killing threats to your team left and right, remove whatever the opponent has walling it and clean up sweep from there.

Good Teammates: This Mega Aero set, despite being able to muscle it's way through threats like Mega Venu, actually has a fair bit of trouble with stall. As a result, a Stallbreaker such as Mew makes for an excellent parter. Mew also runs Taunt, shutting down bulky waters, which are all effective counters to this Pokemon. If that isn't enough fo you, a Crocune check or counter is another good partner. Aero also supports hazards removal such as Excadrill, who also absorbs Twave from Thundy for Mega Aero. Finally, Tyranitar sets sand for Mega Aero, giving it a very nice Spdef boost, making it another good partner. It also sets Stealth Rocks, which turns many 2HKOes into important OHKOes.

What Counters It: There are a number of counters to this Pokemon. At best, Fire Fang only 3HKOes Skarmory, meaning that the iron bird is an effective counter. Crocune also easily sets up on this thing and takes minimal damage from any of Mega Aero's attacks. In fact, practically any bulky water has an easy time with Mega Aero.

As for checks, due to Mega Aero's completely insane speed, there isn't a lot that actually checks it. However, the 3 fastest relevant scarfers (Keldeo, Terrakion and Latios) are all effective checks. Azumarill and Scizor/Mega Scizor also check it due to their powerful priority moves.

Any Additional Info: Mega Aerodactyl is best used Mid-Late game to revenge kill key offensive threats or to clean up sweep. The 44 EVs in defence allows Mega Aero to avoid the 2HKO from Adamant Talonflame's Brave Bird.

 

[McBeengs]

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 212 Atk / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail / Ice Fang
- Fire Fang



Role: Physical Sweeper (cleaner) / Revenge Killer

What It Does: A great sweeper / cleaner, Mega Aero is batshit fast and this allows it to revenge kill a shit ton of the metagame, even when adamant. It is a fantastic offensive check to the likes of Keldeo, Landorus, Zard Y, Talonflame, Greninja, Mega Pinsir, Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham, Mega Gardevoir, ext. A lot of these are huge threats to offence (namely Greninja) and removing them is always handy. A lot of them are also threats to Sand Offence, a playstyle that Mega Aero fits nicely on due to the Special Defence boost it receives. It's also got pretty nice moves available to it, running things such as Aqua Tail which can be used over Ice Fang to stop Hippo from walling you, but it does allow Lando-T to avoid the OHKO. Essentially, you want Mega Aero to be revenge killing threats to your team left and right, remove whatever the opponent has walling it and clean up sweep from there.

Good Teammates: This Mega Aero set, despite being able to muscle it's way through threats like Mega Venu, actually has a fair bit of trouble with stall. As a result, a Stallbreaker such as Mew makes for an excellent parter. Mew also runs Taunt, shutting down bulky waters, which are all effective counters to this Pokemon. If that isn't enough fo you, a Crocune check or counter is another good partner. Aero also supports hazards removal such as Excadrill, who also absorbs Twave from Thundy for Mega Aero. Finally, Tyranitar sets sand for Mega Aero, giving it a very nice Spdef boost, making it another good partner. It also sets Stealth Rocks, which turns many 2HKOes into important OHKOes.

What Counters It: There are a number of counters to this Pokemon. At best, Fire Fang only 3HKOes Skarmory, meaning that the iron bird is an effective counter. Crocune also easily sets up on this thing and takes minimal damage from any of Mega Aero's attacks. In fact, practically any bulky water has an easy time with Mega Aero.

As for checks, due to Mega Aero's completely insane speed, there isn't a lot that actually checks it. However, the 3 fastest relevant scarfers (Keldeo, Terrakion and Latios) are all effective checks. Azumarill and Scizor/Mega Scizor also check it due to their powerful priority moves.

Any Additional Info: Mega Aerodactyl is best used Mid-Late game to revenge kill key offensive threats or to clean up sweep. The 44 EVs in defence allows Mega Aero to avoid the 2HKO from Adamant Talonflame's Brave Bird.

Just some small questions: Why you moved 44 EVs to the defense? What exactly you are expecting with this extra bulk?. Also, Why you are using Aerial Ace instead of BB?

 

[Numera]

Just some small questions: Why you moved 44 EVs to the defense? What exactly you are expecting with this extra bulk?. Also, Why you are using Aerial Ace instead of BB?

Mega Aerodactyl does not get BB, and I have already explained the 44 EVs in bulk at the end.

 

[McBeengs]

Mega Aerodactyl it does not get BB, and I have already explained the 44 EVs in bulk at the end.

Oh, I could bet I had seen an M Dactyl using BB somewhere in Showdown... Well some idiot must have put it by mistake and he have fooled me lol. And i'm sorry about the EVs, i didn't have noticed your Additional Info. But yea I get it tnx

 

[McBeengs]

What to use:

Medicham (M) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Fake Out / Substitute / Bullet Punch / Thunder Punch

Role: Wallbreaker

What it does: Brings walls to the ground begging for mercy. Anything that doesn't like having an HJK in the face will be forever injured by his Pure Powered STAB's, and if still someone dares to claim fear nothing from it will be equally destroyed by his amazing coverage. After MegaEVO, Mega Medicham gains an new incredible dangerous 100 base stat on both his speed and attack, which is further boosted by his awesome ability, Pure Power, literally doubling the number to an unbelievable 200 BS.

After Aegislash ban, Mega Medicham certainly was one of the most benefited from the dramatic shift of the metagame, followed by Mega Gardevoir / Heracross... Since then, Medicham rise will probably continuing to grow, meaning that the more popular he gets, he also will get more dangerous.

Good teammates: After Mega EVO, Mega Medicham in most cases doesn't need any help to wallbreak a threat (hell, he even doesn't need setup!), however being extremely frail often cause it headaches to safely switch, even in a resisted move... To fix that, pair him with an effective VoltTurn core can help a lot when you need switch into, let's say, an Gliscor, but you would hate being Toxic'd; To do so, ChestoRest Rotom-W can be very helpful, taking status that would otherwise cripple Medicham, gaining an huge chunk of momentum with his slow Volt Switch and countering the ever present Talonflame, who further limits MCham sweeper actions. To finish the VoltTurn core, Greninja is also another great option, since he can easily pass through the Lati@s twins, threaten Landorus-T and put a lot of pressure into any Ghost Type like Gengar.

Pairing sweepers along MCham is something that you absolutely needs to do, with him softening or even killing Physical Walls can open a big hole to dangerous Revenge Killers / Late Game Cleaners like Terrakion or Choice Band Azumarill to pass through.

Having an middling 100 BS on speed isn't bad for an wallbreaker, but if you are considering using Mega Medicham as an sweeper, he will be constantly outspeed by many other Revenge Killers; A good way to remediate this is attach something like Sticky Web Shuckle or Prankster Thunder Wave Thundurus... In both cases, slowing key threats like Mega Gardevoir or Keldeo can be the difference between win or lost in some desperate situations at the late game.

What counters it: Thanks to your sheer force being so recognized, a lot of people actually put Mega Medicham as another "Threat without Counter", just like Terrakion or Mega Heracross. While this can appear believable, ironically it just made the life who put an end to him more easy, since because when this kind of people start to make a team arround MCham, they forgot to put checks to these mentioned counters. Knowing that, Slowbro is the best candidate to wall Mega Medicham, since Slowbro will easily eat all of your moves, taking laughable damange from HJK and 3HKOing with Scald, while having the chance of fishing a burn; And if you tell me Thunder Punch:

252 Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 184-218 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

...In the meantime, Slowbro can easily switch back, restoring an good amount of HP with Regenerator and still give MM the middle finger. Thanks to its pure Psychic Type, Mew is another great shot at Cham, holding him relatively well to an stallbreaker, since he can either force Medicham out, or he can burn it with WoW, making Pure Power worthless... And since I speak about Psychic Types: Most of then can be considered an check / counter in potential, like Victini or Latias

Another possibility of quickly kill Mega Medicham are using very fast Revenge Killers, especially when they have powerfull priority into their movesets... In this category: CB BB Talonflame, Aqua Jet Azumarill are all dangerous, and if Medicham already has taken some damange, LO Sucker Punch Bisharp will also easily take it out

And finally, any Ghost Type that outspeeds Mega Medicham can limit their moveset into just 3 attacks since the risk of taking recoil from HJK into an predicted switch is gonna be so high that you will need to be 2x more careful as usual, making special mentions to Sableye. Equipped with Prankster WoW, Sableye can come anytime into both of MCham STABs, burn him and restore all the collateral damage with Recover, all at 0 cost.

Any Additional Info: If you are using Mega Medicham as an sweeper rather than an wallbreaker, Drain Punch can be used into the 1°st moveslot to minimize predictions and also being an passive way of restoring HP, however sacrifice Power by stability isn't recommended into an pure wallbreaker set, especially with MCham's strongest STAB. On the other hand, using Bullet Punch into an Physical Sweeper set is more recommended to use instead of Fake Out, since after used in the first turn, it becomes an dead slot... But again, into an WB set, the broken saches and cheap damande that FO provides can be pretty neat.

[EDIT] Changed some things thanks to users TerrorDave and The Bravest Bird suggestions

 

[Numera]

What to use:

Medicham (M) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Fake Out / Bullet Punch / Thunder Punch

Role: Wallbreaker

What it does: Brings walls to the ground begging for mercy. Anything that doesn't like having an HJK in the face will be forever injured by his Pure Powered STAB's, and if still someone dares to claim fear nothing from it will be equally destroyed by his amazing coverage. After MegaEVO, Mega Medicham gains an new incredible dangerous 100 base stat on both his speed and attack, which is further boosted by his awesome ability, Pure Power, literally doubling the number to an unbelievable 200 BS.

After Aegislash ban, Mega Medicham certainly was one of the most benefited from the dramatic shift of the metagame, followed by Mega Gardevoir / Heracross... Since then, Medicham rise will probably continuing to grow, meaning that the more popular he gets, he also will get more dangerous.
Good teammates: After Mega EVO, Mega Medicham in most cases doesn't need any help to wallbreak a threat (hell, he even doesn't need setup!), however being extremely frail often cause it headaches to safely switch, even in a resisted move... To fix that, pair him with an effective VoltTurn core can help a lot when you need switch into, let's say, an Gliscor, but you would hate being Toxic'd; To do so, ChestoRest Rotom-W can be very helpful, taking status that would otherwise cripple Medicham, gaining an huge chunk of momentum with his slow Volt Switch and countering the ever present Talonflame, who further limits MCham sweeper actions. To finish the VoltTurn core, Greninja is also another great option, since he can easily pass through the Lati@s twins, threaten Landorus-T and put a lot of pressure into any Ghost Type like Gengar.

Pairing sweepers along MCham is something that you absolutely needs to do, with him softening or even killing Physical Walls can open a big hole to dangerous Revenge Killers / Late Game Cleaners like Terrakion or Choice Band Azumarill to pass through.

Having an middling 100 BS on speed isn't bad for an wallbreaker, but if you are considering using Mega Medicham as an sweeper, he will be constantly outspeed by many other Revenge Killers; A good way to remediate this is attach something like Sticky Web Shuckle or Prankster Thunder Wave Thundurus... In both cases, slowing key threats like Mega Gardevoir or Keldeo can be the difference between win or lost in some desperate situations at the late game.
What counters it: Thanks to your sheer force being so recognized, a lot of people actually put Mega Medicham as another "Threat without Counter", just like Terrakion or Mega Heracross. While this can appear believable, ironically it just made the life who put an end to him more easy, since because when this kind of people start to make a team arround MCham, they forgot to put checks to these mentioned counters. Knowing that, Slowbro is the best candidate to wall Mega Medicham, since Slowbro will easily eat all of your moves, taking laughable damange from HJK and 3HKOing with Scald, while having the chance of fishing a burn; And if you tell me Thunder Punch:

252 Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 184-218 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

...In the meantime, Slowbro can easily switch back, restoring an good amount of HP with Regenerator and still give MM the middle finger. Thanks to its pure Psychic Type, Mew is another great shot at Cham, holding him relatively well to an stallbreaker, since he can either force Medicham out, or he can burn it with WoW, making Pure Power worthless... And since I speak about Psychic Types: Most of then can be considered an check / counter in potential, like Victini or Latias

Another possibility of quickly kill Mega Medicham are using very fast Revenge Killers, especially when they have powerfull priority into their movesets... In this category: CB BB Talonflame, Ahqua Jet Azumarill are all dangerous, and if Medicham already has taken some damange, LO Sucker Punch Bisharp will also easily take it out

And finally, any Ghost Type that outspeeds Mega Medicham can limit their moveset into just 3 attacks since the risk of taking recoil from HJK into an predicted switch is gonna be so high that you will need to be 2x more careful as usual, making special mentions to Sableye. Equipped with Prankster WoW, Sableye can come anytime into both of MCham STABs, burn him and restore all the collateral damage with Recover, all at 0 cost.

Any Additional Info: If you are using Mega Medicham as an sweeper rather than an wallbreaker, Drain Punch can be used into the 1°st moveslot to minimize predictions and also being an passive way of restoring HP, however sacrifice Power by stability isn't recommended into an pure wallbreaker set, especially with MCham's strongest STAB. On the other hand, using Bullet Punch into an Physical Sweeper set is more recommended to use instead of Fake Out, since after used in the first turn, it becomes an dead slot... But again, into an WB set, the broken saches and cheap damande that FO provides can be pretty neat.

Gonna nitpick.

1. Put Sub as the first option for the 4th slot. It's a fucking godsend vs stall.

2. Run Adamant. You need Adamant to 2HKO Clefable.

 

[McBeengs]

Gonna nitpick.

1. Put Sub as the first option for the 4th slot. It's a fucking godsend vs stall.

2. Run Adamant. You need Adamant to 2HKO Clefable.

1) Yea, I forgot to mention Sub... Edit in a second, tnx

2) NO... You see, while Adamant can be tempting thaks to the added power, it opens an gigantic hole to other very common threats at OU right now come and kill you faster than you can say "fuck" like both Charizard forms, Mega Gardevoir, Landorus-T, Kyurem-B and an shitload of more. Besides that, pairing MCham with Heatran is more than enougt to wall Clefable, an if she's caring an LO rather than an Lefties:

0 SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Medicham: 291-346 (111.4 - 132.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

All in all, open 5 holes in order to fix 1 iis kinda dumb for me, but yea however...

 

[Numera]

1) Yea, I forgot to mention Sub... Edit in a second, tnx

2) NO... You see, while Adamant can be tempting thaks to the added power, it opens an gigantic hole to other very common threats at OU right now come and kill you faster than you can say "fuck" like both Charizard forms, Mega Gardevoir, Landorus-T, Kyurem-B and an shitload of more. Besides that, pairing MCham with Heatran is more than enougt to wall Clefable, an if she's caring an LO rather than an Lefties:

0 SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Medicham: 291-346 (111.4 - 132.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

All in all, open 5 holes in order to fix 1 iis kinda dumb for me, but yea however...

The point is to stop if from switching in and CMing in your face. That way, there's no need to run tran. The only playstyle you'll ever see defensive tran and Medicham together on is balanced, and that's awfully limiting. There's always scarftran, but y'know. I get it that all of those things outspeed you, but why not just run a check to them all rather than being FORCED to use balanced? Most of those things aren't that hard to check, in fact Scarf Magnezone w HP Ice does em all bar Zard X. And do you know what the best part is? You speed tie 2 of those anyway and the other 2 don't switch in at all, it's not that big of a deal.

 

[McBeengs]

I really don't know how anyone hasn't even mentioned this thing yet

What to use:

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse / HP Fire / HP Grass / U-Turn
- Extrasensory / U-Turn

Role: Special Sweeper / Late Game Cleaner (when added)

What it does: Winning the title of being the most used (yet not broken) starter ever made, Greninja certainly left his mark being one of the faster Sweepers into OU existence. Just to you have an idea of how Greninja's weight is seen into his tier, pretty much all pokémon with +125 BS on speed are often found running just enoght to outspeed him, since despite Talonflame and Mega Manectric being real threats, Greninja's versatility it's the only thing taken into account when the EV's are distributed on things like Weavile and Mega Alakazam.

Every team needs to have an reliable check to Greninja, otherwise it will severely suffer the lost of momentum that he provides... And accomplishing all of this with such an arguably middling 530 BST, it's something that very few sweepers managed to perform so well like he does.

Good teammates: Despites Greninja's average Sp.Atk and exeptional Spd stats, sadly not everything is just a Bed of Roses; Having defenses equivalent to a wet paper, plenity of his switch-ins capabilities are often envolved with some kinda of VoltTurn core... This means that of all pokémon available on the A+ rank, Greninja is one of that most needs help by team support, but it not necessarily means that is a bad thing, since putting him along Rotom-W, Scizor and Landorus-T gives you the best VoltTurn available in OU, having an damn perfect coverage, both offensively and defensively.

Having an solid hazard control core is vital to Greninja's longetivity, since he not only forces a lot of switches, but also hates SR onto his side, especially when taking LO recoil constantly can bring him down extremely fast; As mentioned above, SR Landorus-T and Defog Mega Scizor are excellent to handle entry hazards by their own. When we start do argument about Sticky Web, Latios also is an excellent teammate, having and interesting sinergy along Greninja, being able to switch into Electric, Fighting and Grass types in relatively ease to another sweeper. (Skarmory is also an pretty good option, but with Scarf Magnezone becoming more popular every day, it becomes inferior to the Eon counterparts).

What counters it: Because of Greninja's incredible coverage and power, it's difficult for a counter to be able to switch into an already coming attack, taking another and then KO it back... However, like every special attacker in existance (not named Keldeo), Greninja's biggest bane is Chansey. Doesn't giving a damn thing to any of his main coverage moves, she can paralyzes him with TW, making Greninja useless, heal herself and your team while also running circles around you. AV Azumarill is also another very common switch-in on Greninja, fearing nothing unless HP Grass (who it's only an 3HKO anyways), while can easily one-shot you with Play Rough... In fact, all of heavily investors on Special bulk can threaten Greninja, like Clefable or Ferrothorn.

Any Prankser user that carries Thunder Wave can be the last nail into Greninja's utility grave, being Thundurus the most quoted to do so, even if can just be an suicidal way to stop him. Also, most of Scarf users are often outspeeding Greninja, meaning that neither all of his speed will help him facing things like Scarf Terrakion or Garchomp.

Any Additional Info: If Greninja uses Protean, and your opponent immediately switch into something that resists the new type, therefore carring an SE move can be very annoyng, especially when this attack is an priority; Imagine this situation: You are using Greninja with HP Fire and your opponent have an Mega Scizor... If he predicts the HP and switches into an AV Azumarill, now he will take next to no damage; While you will be forced out, risking give him a free BD.

... Also:

What to use:

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Spikes
- Extrasensory

Role: Hazard Setter

What it does: Due to the amount of switches and free turns Greninja generates, it has many opportunities to use Spikes to support its teammates and inflict more damage, acting as an really solid hazard setter.

Good teammates: Unlike his LO conterpart, this specific set doesn't need as much support from setting up Spikes, since after laying 2-3 layers of Spikes, he's virtually done; Perhaps attaching an fast Taunt on the likes of Thundurus or Mew is more than enough to help Greninja in this case.

Pairing Sweepers or Wallbreakers with this set is also heavily reccomended, since with the extra help that entry hazards provides, things like Keldeo, Garchomp, Mega Medicham and Mega Pinsir will have an easier life breaking through walls like Hippowdown and Mega Venusaur.

What counters it: Briefly speaking: Thanks to both sets being extremely similar, all of the current All-Out-Attacker counters can be applied here as well; Besides that, not only you will need to fear get paralyzed, but also taunted by the likes of Prankster Thundurus, Sableye and Whimsicott.

Any Additional Info: As this set is still primarily offensive in nature, it uses the same EV spread, nature, and item as the All-Out-Attacker set. It isn't advised to set up Spikes while risking taking hits in the process, as Greninja isn't a bulky Spikes setter like Skarmory; it is an offensive Spikes setter, and it should only be setting the entry hazard on switches it forces.

 

[D3CON]

I really don't know how anyone hasn't even mentioned this thing yet

What to use:

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse / HP Fire / HP Grass / U-Turn
- Extrasensory / U-Turn

Role: Special Sweeper / Late Game Cleaner (when added)

What it does: Winning the title of being the most used (yet not broken) starter ever made, Greninja certainly left his mark being one of the faster Sweepers into OU existence. Just to you have an idea of how Greninja's weight is seen into his tier, pretty much all pokémon with +125 BS on speed are often found running just enoght to outspeed him, since despite Talonflame and Mega Manectric being real threats, Greninja's versatility it's the only thing taken into account when the EV's are distributed on things like Weavile and Mega Alakazam.

Every team needs to have an reliable check to Greninja, otherwise it will severely suffer the lost of momentum that he provides... And accomplishing all of this with such an arguably middling 530 BST, it's something that very few sweepers managed to perform so well like he does.
Good teammates: Despites Greninja's average Sp.Atk and exeptional Spd stats, sadly not everything is just a Bed of Roses; Having defenses equivalent to a wet paper, plenity of his switch-ins capabilities are often envolved with some kinda of VoltTurn core... This means that of all pokémon available on the A+ rank, Greninja is one of that most needs help by team support, but it not necessarily means that is a bad thing, since putting him along Rotom-W, Scizor and Landorus-T gives you the best VoltTurn available in OU, having an damn perfect coverage, both offensively and defensively.

Having an solid hazard control core is vital to Greninja's longetivity, since he not only forces a lot of switches, but also hates SR onto his side, especially when taking LO recoil constantly can bring him down extremely fast; As mentioned above, SR Landorus-T and Defog Mega Scizor are excellent to handle entry hazards by their own. When we start do argument about Sticky Web, Latios also is an excellent teammate, having and interesting sinergy along Greninja, being able to switch into Electric, Fighting and Grass types in relatively ease to another sweeper. (Skarmory is also an pretty good option, but with Scarf Magnezone becoming more popular every day, it becomes inferior to the Eon counterparts).
What counters it: Because of Greninja's incredible coverage and power, it's difficult for a counter to be able to switch into an already coming attack, taking another and then KO it back... However, like every special attacker in existance (not named Keldeo), Greninja's biggest bane is Chansey. Doesn't giving a damn thing to any of his main coverage moves, she can paralyzes him with TW, making Greninja useless, heal herself and your team while also running circles around you. AV Azumarill is also another very common switch-in on Greninja, fearing nothing unless HP Grass (who it's only an 3HKO anyways), while can easily one-shot you with Play Rough... In fact, all of heavily investors on Special bulk can threaten Greninja, like Clefable or Ferrothorn.

Any Prankser user that carries Thunder Wave can be the last nail into Greninja's utility grave, being Thundurus the most quoted to do so, even if can just be an suicidal way to stop him. Also, most of Scarf users are often outspeeding Greninja, meaning that neither all of his speed will help him facing things like Scarf Terrakion or Garchomp.
Any Additional Info: If Greninja uses Protean, and your opponent immediately switch into something that resists the new type, therefore carring an SE move can be very annoyng, especially when this attack is an priority; Imagine this situation: You are using Greninja with HP Fire and your opponent have an Mega Scizor... If he predicts the HP and switches into an AV Azumarill, now he will take next to no damage; While you will be forced out, risking give him a free BD.

... Also:

What to use:

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Spikes / Toxic Spikes
- U-Turn

Role: Hazard Setter

What it does: Due to the amount of switches and free turns Greninja generates, it has many opportunities to use Spikes to support its teammates and inflict more damage, acting as an really solid hazard setter.
Good teammates: Unlike his LO conterpart, this specific set doesn't need as much support from setting up Spikes, since after laying 2-3 layers of Spikes, he's virtually done; Perhaps attaching an fast Taunt on the likes of Thundurus or Mew is more than enough to help Greninja in this case.

Pairing Sweepers or Wallbreakers with this set is also heavily reccomended, since with the extra help that entry hazards provides, things like Keldeo, Garchomp, Mega Medicham and Mega Pinsir will have an easier life breaking through walls like Hippowdown and Mega Venusaur.
What counters it: Briefly speaking: Thanks to both sets being extremely similar, all of the current All-Out-Attacker counters can be applied here as well; Besides that, not only you will need to fear get paralyzed, but also taunted by the likes of Prankster Thundurus, Sableye and Whimsicott.
Any Additional Info: As this set is still primarily offensive in nature, it uses the same EV spread, nature, and item as the All-Out-Attacker set. It isn't advised to set up Spikes while risking taking hits in the process, as Greninja isn't a bulky Spikes setter like Skarmory; it is an offensive Spikes setter, and it should only be setting the entry hazard on switches it forces.

P.S.: I could do the Physical set as an "What NOT to use", but I'm are just too lazy after doing all this... Can someone do on my place instead ?

The hazard setter set like to run taunt too, for obvious reasons. There is also the fact that sash is also a pretty viable item on the lead spike stack greninja set. Futhermore, i would only run scald on the lead support set, since there is the clean 30% chance to burn and 100% accuracy.

 

[Tressed]

McBeengs Couple things need changing.

On the attacker set, Hydro Pump should be the only option, Scald is really too weak to consider use if you're using it for offense. Grass Knot over HP Grass, since Rotom-W is the only relevant thing HP Grass hits harder than GK while the latter hits quite a few things harder.

On the Spiker set, remove Toxic Spikes, it's irrelevant in OU. I'd toss U-Turn out as well, you're using your free turns to set up Spikes anyways, so why not extra coverage or Taunt instead? Also, D3CON's post.

 

[The Bravest Bird]

1) Yea, I forgot to mention Sub... Edit in a second, tnx

2) NO... You see, while Adamant can be tempting thaks to the added power, it opens an gigantic hole to other very common threats at OU right now come and kill you faster than you can say "fuck" like both Charizard forms, Mega Gardevoir, Landorus-T, Kyurem-B and an shitload of more. Besides that, pairing MCham with Heatran is more than enougt to wall Clefable, an if she's caring an LO rather than an Lefties:

0 SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Medicham: 291-346 (111.4 - 132.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

All in all, open 5 holes in order to fix 1 iis kinda dumb for me, but yea however...

Adamant is Mega Medicham's best nature. Charizard beats you most of the time anyways and you outspeed most Zard X and most Modest Zard Y. Mega Gardevoir also wins, even with Bullet Punch if mgarde is near full. Landorus-T never runs Max Speed unless its a Choice Scarf set, which outspeeds you anyway. Kyurem-B doesn't run a speed boosting nature that often as it really doesn't need to - even then you have teammates. Jolly Exca is uncommon, That's kind of it... Honestly you're really overstating the negatives of an Adamant nature when there really aren't too many. Meanwhile you're even harder to switch in to and you can nail Clefable with two Zen Headbutts. Clefable don't run life orb too often either.

As for the spikes greninja, Scald and Toxic Spikes should be deslashed and U-turn should be replaced by Extrasensory. Toxic Spikes aren't great in the current OU metagame, and Greninja really needs all the power it can get. While Greninja forces switches, you're gonna be using Spikes on switches anyway and you'd usually rather nail Keldeo/MVenu than scout with U-turn.

D3CON There really isn't a point in running Taunt / Sash. There's not much of a point in using a Suicide Spikes lead Greninja when 1) there's a lot of power backing up Greninja, 2) Stealth Rockers such as Sashchomp exist, and if you want Spikes that bad you could even use Scolipede for a Suicide spiker.

 

[McBeengs]

Adamant is Mega Medicham's best nature. Charizard beats you most of the time anyways and you outspeed most Zard X and most Modest Zard Y. Mega Gardevoir also wins, even with Bullet Punch if mgarde is near full. Landorus-T never runs Max Speed unless its a Choice Scarf set, which outspeeds you anyway. Kyurem-B doesn't run a speed boosting nature that often as it really doesn't need to - even then you have teammates. Jolly Exca is uncommon, That's kind of it... Honestly you're really overstating the negatives of an Adamant nature when there really aren't too many. Meanwhile you're even harder to switch in to and you can nail Clefable with two Zen Headbutts. Clefable don't run life orb too often either.

As for the spikes greninja, Scald and Toxic Spikes should be deslashed and U-turn should be replaced by Extrasensory. Toxic Spikes aren't great in the current OU metagame, and Greninja really needs all the power it can get. While Greninja forces switches, you're gonna be using Spikes on switches anyway and you'd usually rather nail Keldeo/MVenu than scout with U-turn.

D3CON There really isn't a point in running Taunt / Sash. There's not much of a point in using a Suicide Spikes lead Greninja when 1) there's a lot of power backing up Greninja, 2) Stealth Rockers such as Sashchomp exist, and if you want Spikes that bad you could even use Scolipede for a Suicide spiker.

Ok man, I'm on my phone now, so I will be very quick: Yea, TerrorDave already was told me about the advantages of running Adamant; I was just too lazy to reply his post... Problem ?. At the beggining of XY OU I had read an user explaining how Jolly has better than Adamant, and man, he convinced me... Now with those better arguments, I've changed my mind.

About the Greninja's sets: As you already may know, both Azumarill and Ferrothorn has no problem to switch into him at all, even with no Special investiment... While Scald is obviously weaker, it's 100% accurate and 30% chance to fish an burn helps a lot when those mentioned threats are on the other side of the field, meaning that they will not switch into complete safety; However, there's no problem.. I recognize my mistake; The only thing I disagree is completely scratch Scald just by his low BP, forgetting his other utilities like BlackLight proposed.

At last, the HS set was done pretty much in hurry (I needed go out, have my normal life ya'know ?), so I knewed that someone would find something wrong, but that's ok... Editing in a sec.

Living and learning :)

 

[-altercation-]

What to use:

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang / Substitute / Bounce / Taunt

Role: Physical Sweeper

What it does: Where do I begin? After a single Dragon Dance, Mega Gyarados instantly becomes one of the most threatening sweepers in the tier. Complemented by its overall fantastic bulk and Intimidate ability prior to Mega Evolving, it often finds many opportunities to set up and begin a sweep. Waterfall is and always will be Gyarados' most reliable physical STAB move, with a nifty 20% chance to flinch a Pokemon as well. Earthquake nails Pokemon such as Rotom-Wash, now with Mega Gyarados' Mold Breaker ability, and allows it to hit other Pokemon who resist Waterfall for strong neutral damage. Ice Fang is the best option on its fourth slot, giving Gyarados unresisted neutral coverage. Substitute allows Gyarados to avoid status and ease prediction, but additional coverage from a third attacking move is usually a more reliable option. Bounce allows Gyarados to hit Keldeo for super effective damage, and it also hits Mega Venusaur harder than Ice Fang, though it's quite unreliable due to it being a two turn move.

Good teammates: Mega Gyarados finds itself struggling against bulky grass types such as Mega Venusaur and Chesnaught, so teammates like Kyurem-B and Lati@s work well with it, especially Lati@s, which provide good type synergy, the ability to deal with the aforementioned Grass-Types, the ability to check Fighting-Types like Conkeldurr, Keldeo and Breloom, and also providing Defog support. Normal Gyarados resists all of Heatran's weaknesses, making it a good partner, also providing Stealth Rock support and a way to deal with Ferrothorn. Gothitelle can trap and KO the aforementioned threats, creating a deadly offensive core.

What counters it: Choice Scarf users such as Keldeo are able to outspeed at +1 and annihilate Mega Gyarados with Secret Sword, and can catch normal Gyarados by surprise with Hidden Power Electric (although uncommon). With normal Gyarados's Stealth Rock weakness, it becomes susceptible to revenge killing. A weakened Gyarados falls victim to Talonflame's Brave Bird, and Mega Gyarados' newly obtained fighting weakness leaves it for dead against faster Fighting-Types like Terrakion and Mach Punch users like Breloom. Prankster users such as Thundurus and the uncommon Sableye can cripple Gyarados with Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp, respectively.

Any additional info: Gyarados serves more as a mid-late game sweeper, when its checks and counters have been weakened or removed. One should not haphazardly Mega-evolve Gyarados either, as normal Gyarados has better overall defensive typing than its Mega Evolution. As such, you should Mega Evolve Gyarados if it needs to get past a Pokemon with Mold Breaker and/or with its boosted attack stat, or just wanting to take an Electric Type move better. Mega Gyarados cannot stand any form of status, as such, it should normally be switched in on a Pokemon that doesn't usually run any status moves.

 

[escarlata]

You should slash Taunt on the last slash as well. It is ridiculously good when setting up against Skarmory, Ferrothorn and shit.

 

[-altercation-]

You should slash Taunt on the last slash as well. It is ridiculously good when setting up against Skarmory, Ferrothorn and shit.

Not sure about Ferrothorn since it can carry Power Whip on occasion, but I'll give it a slash. :)

 

[-altercation-]

What to use:

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball / Extrasensory

Role: Special Sweeper / Pivot

What it does: Raikou has proven to be an effective pivot in the OU metagame, hitting opposing Pokemon hard while maintaining momentum against the opponent. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch provide reliable STAB options, both able to hit hard thanks to its Choice Specs, while the latter allows you to maintain momentum. Hidden Power Ice allows you to hit pesky Dragon-, Ground- and Flying-types such as Gliscor, Garchomp, and both Landorus formes. Shadow Ball allows you to hit Latios and Latias harder than Hidden Power Ice, and takes a decent chunk off of Excadrill that switch in on Raikou. Extrasensory handles Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss, who otherwise deal with Raikou quite easily.

Good teammates: Pokemon who are able to form VoltTurn cores with Raikou make for excellent partners. Mega Scizor definitely deserves a mention, as not only does it form such a core, but can also threaten Chansey with Knock Off. Scarf Landorus-T is also a great partner, acting as a neat revenge killer and forms yet another VoltTurn core. Water-types that can plow through Ground-types such as Manaphy, Greninja and Keldeo also make for good partners. Skarmory and Mandibuzz provide Defog support, which is necessary for Raikou as it will be switching in and out quite often. Kyurem-B can also serve as an answer for Ground-types.

What counters it: Specially Defensive Hippowdon and Tyranitar can switch in on any of its moves and retaliate with Earthquake, the former only being 2HKOed by Hidden Power Ice after Stealth Rock and 3 layers of Spikes. If Raikou is locked into Thunderbolt, virtually any Ground-type can check it with its STAB Ground-Type move. Chansey and Gastrodon completely wall Raikou, and Ferrothorn can set up Leech Seed and Stealth Rock on it. Scarf variants of Ground-Types like Garchomp and Landorus-T can check it, regardless of any move Raikou is locked into.

Any additional info: The EV spread provided allows you to outrun Thundurus and hit as hard as possible, while the rest is just invested in bulk. Volt Switch is the move you'll be using most of the time. If the foe has a Ground-type, double switching on the predicted switch is generally the best course of action to maintain momentum. Thunderbolt should be use to obtain a KO that Volt Switch cannot, or just to clean the foe's weakened team. Raikou prefers taking as little damage as possible, as a combination of multiple resisted hits and entry hazards can wear it down to the point that Pokemon such as Choice Band Talonflame can begin spamming Brave Bird.

 

[RedsCharizard]

What to use:

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician --> Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog / Tailwind

Role: Physical wall / Pivot

What it does: Mega Scizor is a surprisingly good physical wall with only a 70 base HP stat, but an incredible defense stat of 140 after mega evolving, along with a rather good 100 special defense stat. Mega Scizor has the capability to wall a lot of OU's most threatening physical attackers, such as Excadrill, Kyurem-B, Mamoswine and Terrakion. Along with large bulk, Mega Scizor also gets Knock Off and Roost, with Knock Off crippling your opponent's offensive cores and Roost recovering your HP. Defog is used to get rid of hazards that your opponent has set up (unfortunately also your own), while running Tailwind can support your team. Bullet Punch is good to finish off Pokemon at low HP.

Good teammates: Since Scizor has a huge 4x weakness to fire, Heatran can help Scizor rather well, with absorbing threatening fire attacks. Chansey can be run alongside Scizor quite well, walling attacks that would cripple Scizor, and use Heal Bell in case Scizor got burned. Latias and Rotom-Wash can fullfill the role of supporting Scizor rather nicely, too. Offensive Pokemon such as Keldeo and Tyranitar can switch into fire attacks nicely and threaten out the opponent with a super-effective attack.

What counters it: As mentioned before, Scizor has a crippling weakness to fire, which is exactly why it cannot stay in on things such as Entei, Talonflame, Charizard and the like. If your opponent switches into Charizard, it's just about game over for Scizor, so you'd better be prepared for that. HP Fire Magnezone can trap Scizor if it gets switched in. Furthermore, if Scizor gets burned by any other wall thanks to Will-O-Wisp or Scald, the residual damage is going to cripple Scizor heavily, as it does not have leftovers thanks to the Scizorite, and Bullet Punch / Knock Off will do very little damage.

Any additional info: Frankly, you could run leftovers over the Scizorite with this set to use another mega evolution on your team, but its defenses won't be as high and may not take attacks as well as Mega Scizor.

 

[SSJ]

What to use

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard --> Trace
Ev's: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Modest nature
-Psyshock
-Hidden Power [Fire]
-Focus Blast / Dazzling Gleam
-Shadow Ball / Taunt

Role: Special sweeper, Revenge killer, Wall breaker

What it does: Mega Alakazam is one of the most powerful sweepers in the OU metagame with a base 175 SpA stat. He also has a great speed stat of 150 which allows him to run a modest nature while still out speeding pokemon like Greninja and and Noivern. Modest nature increases Alakazam's ability to hit really hard and gives it the power it needs. Psyshock allows him to take care of chansey especially if you are running taunt. HP Fire is there to kill pokemon like scizor and ferrothorn that threatens alakazam with STAB bug bite and T-wave respectively. Focus blast can be used to take out dark types like Tyranitar and also heatran, which otherwise walls Alakazam. But if you want more accuracy, you can go with Dazzling Gleam, which only has the negative of not hitting heatran. Shadow ball is there to counter other psychic types like lati@s and other alakazams while taunt is there if you want to cripple clerics like chansey, blissey or walls like sylveon. Alakazam, having a total of 493 SpA at modest nature, is a pokemon not be messed with. It can help take out pokemon(walls) that are not letting your sweepers do what they do-sweep. It also functions as a great revenge killer and acts like a pivot, forcing a lot of switches especially since it out speeds pretty much almost the entire un boosted meta.

Good Teammates: Pokemon like donphan work really well with alakazam since it can spin away sticky webs and take physical hits targeted at Alakazam. Mandibuzz also works well with him since it can take dark and ghost type attacks and defog away sticky web and knock off scarfs from sweepers that threaten Alakazam. Pokemon like Mamoswine, Gliscore, Landorus-T, Tyranitar and pretty much any rocker is also a good teammate since stealth rocks allow Alakazam to secure those OHKO's that it couldn't have done before.

What Counters it: Very powerful priority users such as choice band scizor and bisharp are big threats to alakazam. Pursuit users like scizor and tyranitar are also very threatening to alakazams not running HP Fire and Focus blast respectively. Special walls like chansey are also a threat if you are not running taunt as they can keep on healing and kill you with seismic toss.

Any additional info: You can also run HP Ice instead of fire if your team doesn't have a counter to gliscore or landorus, but it will miss out on the opportunity to kill scizor and ferrothorn. You can also run a Timid nature to out speed some slow scarf users but it will lack the power provided by modest nature.

 

[Lord Ninjax]

Cool thread, putting down an upcoming set that I feel deserves some recognition:

What to use:

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP, 252 SpD, 8 Spd
Careful Nature
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Taunt
-Will-o-Wisp

Role: Stallbreaker

What it does: A really nice Stallbreaker set for everyone's favorite Fire Bird, that's been gaining popularity on Stall to not only stop opposing stall, but also serve as a deterrent to the big 3 Megas: Heracross, Gardevoir, and Medicham, using it's solid typing to switch in (relatively) safely, and threaten them all with Brave Bird or Will-o-Wisp.

The threat of Brave Bird is crucial, as it keeps the wallbreaking Megas on their toes and staying away. Taunt shuts down stall, preventing healing, status, phazing, etc. Roost is particularly nice as thanks to Gale Wings, you get priority on recovery, which is really nice, and one of Talonflame's biggest edges over stuff like Stalltini, by keeping it healthy. Lastly, Will-o-Wisp, a given for any Stallbreaker, as it allows it to cripple major threats like the afore given Megas, along with stuff like Azumarill, Kyurem-B, etc, while allowing it to wear down Talonflame's regular checks and counters, and serve as a potent lure against Offense.

Partners: Hazard control right off the bat, as SR can really cut this bird down. Excadrill and the Latitwins are the best Hazard removers in the business, and Latias's Healing Wish can help Talonflame shrug off a stray Toxic or SR switchin, while resisting the Electric and Water type attacks commonly flung at Talonflme. Keep in mind though, that this duo collapses against ScarfTar. A back-up check to Heatran also helps, as though Talonflame checks SpDef Tran, if Heatran has Ancientpower or Stone Edge Talonflame is dead: Keldeo and Terrakion are good picks, physical Latios helps against ScarfTran. As said before, Electric, Water and Rock Resists help: Mega Venusaur is a common stall mon that resists Electric and Water, while Hippowdon resists Electric and Rock, while setting up SR.

Checks and Counters: On the stall teams that this Talonflame likes to go up against, Mega Zard-X is your biggest worry. Mega Zard ignores WoW, can tank BB, and does a ton of Damage with DClaw or EQ (if Talonflame Roosts). (Will update this post when I think of a few more).

Additional Info: EVs allow Talonflame to switch into Rocks 3 times and outspeed non Scarf Kyurem-B, allowing it to check it. A few alternate sets include: 104 HP/180 Atk/16 Def/208 Spd with Impish and Sharp Beak to OHKO MegaCham and check +2 MegaPinsir. The second is the same except for no item and Acrobatics over Brave Bird, which allows Talonflame to switch into stuff like Bisharp, Landorus-T and Ferrothorn that regularly use Knock Off, while at the same time negating BB recoil, which can hurt at times.

Edit: Update the OP please Enki. I've finally decided to go for a badge and I want to be noticed, plus this thread is almost dead, needs a fast revival.

 

[Enki]

I've added albacore's sets and from this moment the topic is back again